Marigny living room artfully balances textures, shapes

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK: One might not expect a vaguely leopard-print rug, antique Chinese screen and 1970s glass benches etched with graph lines to mesh well, but when the person behind the ensemble is an architect and lover of preservation and art, it only conveys the comfort and class of supremely confident taste.

View full sizePHOTOS BY ELIOT KAMENITZ / THE TIMES PICAYUNE Chuck Berg's street-facing living room in his 1850s sidehall shotgun on Elysian Fields Avenue holds some of his favorite things.

Chuck Berg bought the 1850s sidehall shotgun on Elysian Fields Avenue in 2004 when he was still living and working in Houston. He intended for the New Orleans property to be a historic renovation project and weekend home for him and his partner, Sam Armstrong.

When Berg decided to pursue a master of preservation studies degree at Tulane University and move to New Orleans last year, though, the house became a home.

Berg had gutted the entire interior after buying the house to make way for a more old-fashioned layout with "discrete rooms, " shying away from the modern trend of open floor plans.

"The thing that attracted me to this house was the rooms were well-proportioned, and I really liked the side hall that gave some separation of entry."

BALANCING ACT: Set off from the entrance by the slender side hall, the street-facing living room feels both comfortable and vibrant, a balance struck by strong textures, smooth lines and a warm color palette based on maroon and ocre.

View full sizeTHE HOUSE: A renovated Greek Revival sidehall shotgun in Marigny THE OWNER: Chuck Berg THE SPACE: A living room that blends midcentury modern and antique furniture WHY HE LOVES IT: 'To me, this is a real refuge, ' Berg says.

Anchoring that palette and the room is the well-worn maroon Chesterfield couch sitting diagonally in one corner. The luxurious-looking couch was Berg's first big furniture purchase, made in 1979, he said.

"That was the first thing I bought when I first got a job out of college with a decent salary, " Berg said. "I always wanted a big Chesterfield."

The warm, deep red tone spreads throughout the room, in the modified leopard-print rug's outline and mild splashes of color, and in the 18th-century Chinese screen with gold accents that hangs on the wall.

Berg chose a muted background for his furnishings with a light ocre wall color and soft, moss-green trim.

"It's very different from the white houses I worked with in the past, " Berg said. "New Orleans makes you want to play with color."

MIDCENTURY MIX: Berg starts throwing curveballs at the ensemble with his collection of midcentury modern pieces.

The 1950s Noguchi glass-topped coffee table's curved triangular shape mimics the contours of the rug's leopard print, and is faced by a pair of black Le Corbusier chairs.

Next to the couch and one of the chairs are a pair of slender marble "tulip" side tables -- one black, the other white -- designed by the Finnish-born architect Eero Saarinen in the late 1940s.

The tables' round tops and thin, contoured stems add a sexiness and restraint that harmonizes with the room's otherwise strong textures.

Also playing against those textures is a pair of 1970s curvilinear clear glass benches etched with graph lines. They are the room's true wild cards, but fit in because of their textural restraint and visual zing.

"I've done a lot of houses over the years, so I was able to focus and do what I wanted to do, " Berg said. "It's really indicative of my style."